[jjcha]

Yes, I believe you can turn the NC on and off

 

[niccolo]

So active-noise canceling is not very popular here. Do people find that passive noise-canceling is sufficient for airplane travel?
 
I have been really happy with the passive isolation of my Shure IEMs, but the sporadic ear infections have basically ruled those out (though I wonder if custom sleeves would at least take care of the ear canal irritation, if obviously not the ear canal sealing and build up of warmth and moisture).
 
Does the passive isolation of something like the NAD Viso HP50 seem adequate to airplane travel?

 

[leontief]

Strictly for travel, purchase the most comfortable headphones with the best active noise cancellation. Whatever improvement in sound quality of closed headphones with passive noise isolation will be wiped out by the background drone of aircraft noise at 40,000 feet, not to mention the potentially headache inducing clamping of closed headphones without active noise cancellation.